Hi again,

After mulling over the work that needs to be done upstairs in my house,
I am thinking that I may just cut an access hole in one wall and try to
put in some PVC from the basement to the attic. I think that if I do it
right I can put two in with only cutting one wall in an area that needs
some repair anyway. One sleeve for two AC power circuits and the other
for cable TV, phone, and whatever other low voltage stuff I might want
in the future. If I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and run
some cables up there to provide cable TV and phone in all the bedrooms
now, while I'm in the groove. (even though I don't have home phone
service, still, it'd look nice when I go to sell the place.)

Question #1. I ASSumed I would use PVC because then I could put one
length 7' or so up from the basement, glue on a coupling and another 7'
length, repeat. Would steel be desirable from a shielding standpoint,
or doesn't it really matter? These will probably be in the same stud
bay, out of necessity (most of the stud bays in the middle wall of my
house have ductwork in them, so my options are limited.)

Question #2. In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the
cable connection in that? Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?

thanks

Nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

If you run AC in PVC, it has to be electrical (grey) PVC.

If you want to follow the "rules" on coaxial, it should be 12" away
from AC. If it has to cross AC it should cross at 90 degrre angle


On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:01:11 -0500, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Hi again,

After mulling over the work that needs to be done upstairs in my house,
I am thinking that I may just cut an access hole in one wall and try to
put in some PVC from the basement to the attic. I think that if I do it
right I can put two in with only cutting one wall in an area that needs
some repair anyway. One sleeve for two AC power circuits and the other
for cable TV, phone, and whatever other low voltage stuff I might want
in the future. If I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and run
some cables up there to provide cable TV and phone in all the bedrooms
now, while I'm in the groove. (even though I don't have home phone
service, still, it'd look nice when I go to sell the place.)

Question #1. I ASSumed I would use PVC because then I could put one
length 7' or so up from the basement, glue on a coupling and another 7'
length, repeat. Would steel be desirable from a shielding standpoint,
or doesn't it really matter? These will probably be in the same stud
bay, out of necessity (most of the stud bays in the middle wall of my
house have ductwork in them, so my options are limited.)

Question #2. In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the
cable connection in that? Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?

thanks

Nate

wrote:
On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:01:11 -0500, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Hi again,

After mulling over the work that needs to be done upstairs in my house,
I am thinking that I may just cut an access hole in one wall and try to
put in some PVC from the basement to the attic. I think that if I do it
right I can put two in with only cutting one wall in an area that needs
some repair anyway. One sleeve for two AC power circuits and the other
for cable TV, phone, and whatever other low voltage stuff I might want
in the future. If I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and run
some cables up there to provide cable TV and phone in all the bedrooms
now, while I'm in the groove. (even though I don't have home phone
service, still, it'd look nice when I go to sell the place.)

Question #1. I ASSumed I would use PVC because then I could put one
length 7' or so up from the basement, glue on a coupling and another 7'
length, repeat. Would steel be desirable from a shielding standpoint,
or doesn't it really matter? These will probably be in the same stud
bay, out of necessity (most of the stud bays in the middle wall of my
house have ductwork in them, so my options are limited.)

Question #2. In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the
cable connection in that? Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?

thanks

Nate

Why not use smurf tube? (ENT). Then you can just drop a string down
and pull it through.

ENT, Ear Nose and Throat? If you choke a Smurf, what color does he turn?

TDD

After mulling over the work that needs to be done upstairs in my house,
I am thinking that I may just cut an access hole in one wall and try to
put in some PVC from the basement to the attic. I think that if I do it
right I can put two in with only cutting one wall in an area that needs
some repair anyway. One sleeve for two AC power circuits and the other
for cable TV, phone, and whatever other low voltage stuff I might want in
the future. If I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and run some
cables up there to provide cable TV and phone in all the bedrooms now,
while I'm in the groove. (even though I don't have home phone service,
still, it'd look nice when I go to sell the place.)

Question #1. I ASSumed I would use PVC because then I could put one
length 7' or so up from the basement, glue on a coupling and another 7'
length, repeat. Would steel be desirable from a shielding standpoint, or
doesn't it really matter? These will probably be in the same stud bay,
out of necessity (most of the stud bays in the middle wall of my house
have ductwork in them, so my options are limited.)


*I avoid using PVC inside due to leeching of chemicals and the toxic fumes
released when it burns. Metal is much better, but requires grounding. You
could try flexible metal conduit (Greenfield) for the power and install a
large pull box (12"x12"x4") and connect the conduit to it. Instead of
pulling Romex cables through the conduit you could pull individual
conductors and then branch off with Romex from the pull box. You will get a
lot more circuits in a one inch conduit that way and single conductor wire
is cheaper than cable.



Question #2. In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the cable
connection in that? Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?


*I don't know. The metal wall plate would definitely be connected to the
shield of the coax.

On Mar 1, 8:01*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
Hi again,

After mulling over the work that needs to be done upstairs in my house,
I am thinking that I may just cut an access hole in one wall and try to
put in some PVC from the basement to the attic. *I think that if I do it
right I can put two in with only cutting one wall in an area that needs
some repair anyway. *One sleeve for two AC power circuits and the other
for cable TV, phone, and whatever other low voltage stuff I might want
in the future. * If I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and run
some cables up there to provide cable TV and phone in all the bedrooms
now, while I'm in the groove. *(even though I don't have home phone
service, still, it'd look nice when I go to sell the place.)

Question #1. *I ASSumed I would use PVC because then I could put one
length 7' or so up from the basement, glue on a coupling and another 7'
length, repeat. *Would steel be desirable from a shielding standpoint,
or doesn't it really matter? *These will probably be in the same stud
bay, out of necessity (most of the stud bays in the middle wall of my
house have ductwork in them, so my options are limited.)


Shielding from what? The AC are all going in one PVC, the low
voltage stuff in the other. All kinds of wiring is routinely run in
homes without metal conduit, with less seperation than you will have
even with PVC and there are rarely problems.




Question #2. *In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. *I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. *Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? *Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the
cable connection in that? *Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel

The material of the cover plate is strictly cosmetic. Unless you
include the possibility of somehow wiring it up ass backwards to AC
and making it hot. In which case, plastic would have an advantage.

wrote:

If you run AC in PVC, it has to be electrical (grey) PVC.

Only if it is a conduit system, originating from and terminating to
electrical enclosures. If it is a "sleeve" or "chase" that is open at
each end, there is no such requirement. Firestopping is a good idea
however.


If you want to follow the "rules" on coaxial, it should be 12" away
from AC. If it has to cross AC it should cross at 90 degrre angle

The reality is that it makes little to no difference as long as you are
using quality coax (100% shield), and even less these days with OTA and
most cable signals being digital.

On the plate thing, metal plates are fine, the outside of the "F"
connector is ground. All the cable line gear has metal housings with the
coax (hardline) connectors directly screwed in. Since "F" connectors
don't really match antique brass plates anyway, I'd suggest using nice
modular panels for your comm stuff. I use the Leviton modular six
position plates everywhere and put the blank fillers in the port spaces
I'm not currently using.

Yeah, 100% shielded coax is great. Good luck finding it at a
reasonable price. That's top fo the line stuff. Most coax at home
centers is 40-50% shield.


On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:01:11 -0500, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Hi again,

After mulling over the work that needs to be done upstairs in my house,
I am thinking that I may just cut an access hole in one wall and try to
put in some PVC from the basement to the attic. I think that if I do it
right I can put two in with only cutting one wall in an area that needs
some repair anyway. One sleeve for two AC power circuits and the other
for cable TV, phone, and whatever other low voltage stuff I might want
in the future. If I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and run
some cables up there to provide cable TV and phone in all the bedrooms
now, while I'm in the groove. (even though I don't have home phone
service, still, it'd look nice when I go to sell the place.)

Question #1. I ASSumed I would use PVC because then I could put one
length 7' or so up from the basement, glue on a coupling and another 7'
length, repeat. Would steel be desirable from a shielding standpoint,
or doesn't it really matter? These will probably be in the same stud
bay, out of necessity (most of the stud bays in the middle wall of my
house have ductwork in them, so my options are limited.)

Question #2. In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the
cable connection in that? Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?

thanks

Nate

wrote:

Yeah, 100% shielded coax is great. Good luck finding it at a
reasonable price. That's top fo the line stuff. Most coax at home
centers is 40-50% shield.

Your local cable company will be happy to sell you a spool at cost, or
give you smaller amounts for free. It's much cheaper for them to provide
quality coax, than to have to send techs constantly to replace crappy
coax in DIY installations due to customer complaints, or worse yet have
to replace it due to hot spots in their CLI leakage surveys.

On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:01:11 -0500, Nate Nagel
wrote:


Question #2. In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the
cable connection in that? Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?

They make wall plates now that are attractive, in my opiniion, but are
sort of inverted funnels, so you can't see into the wall, but you can
run cables through the wall and right out into the room, without the
nuisance of terminating them at a wall plate, with the right
connector, and then having another cable to go to the device.

It has room for several cables. For example, when I was going to
run 2 RCA cables and an S-video cable from my computer into the wall,
into the attic and to the video distribution center in my bedroom, I
was going to use that. (Now that I'm only using one cat-6 cable (with
baluns at each end) I don't need to do that.

If you're interested, I'll look in my bookmarks and find you a page
that sells them, and what they're called.

(Even before knew of these, I would take blank wall plates, drill a
hole, maybe put in a grommet, and either add the plug after running
the wire through the hole, or make the hole big enough for the entire
plug. For example, the wire from the speakers in my bathroom come out
just behind the tv on the counter, through a plate like that.

I've also done it the other way, with the bedroom speakers and RCA
jacks in the wall, and a couple other things. It doesn't seem worth
it anymore.)

thanks

On Mar 1, 9:08*pm, wrote:
On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:01:11 -0500, Nate Nagel
wrote:





Hi again,

After mulling over the work that needs to be done upstairs in my house,
I am thinking that I may just cut an access hole in one wall and try to
put in some PVC from the basement to the attic. *I think that if I do it
right I can put two in with only cutting one wall in an area that needs
some repair anyway. *One sleeve for two AC power circuits and the other
for cable TV, phone, and whatever other low voltage stuff I might want
in the future. * If I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and run
some cables up there to provide cable TV and phone in all the bedrooms
now, while I'm in the groove. *(even though I don't have home phone
service, still, it'd look nice when I go to sell the place.)

Question #1. *I ASSumed I would use PVC because then I could put one
length 7' or so up from the basement, glue on a coupling and another 7'
length, repeat. *Would steel be desirable from a shielding standpoint,
or doesn't it really matter? *These will probably be in the same stud
bay, out of necessity (most of the stud bays in the middle wall of my
house have ductwork in them, so my options are limited.)

Question #2. *In two of the upstairs bedrooms I am using old .040" solid
brass switch plates. *I know that I can buy new repro blank plates to
match. *Should I do that, and just drill a hole for the cable connector
thing? *Or will the fact that the plate is metal cause an issue, and I
should get one with a Decora hole and use a plastic insert with the
cable connection in that? *Or does it make no darn difference whatsoever?

thanks

Nate

Why not use smurf tube? (ENT). Then you can just drop a string down
and pull it through.

Didn't think of that, but wouldn't that be harder to "pull" through?
(both pulling the cables and also installing in the first place) I do
have to go through three sill plates to get where I need to be
(basement up into attic)

thanks

Nate